REDMOND, Wash., and SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18, 2002 — The MSN network of Internet services and Brightmail Inc. today announced a strategic alliance to reduce the amount of spam reaching MSN Hotmail®
accounts. Unsolicited bulk e-mail is an industrywide concern that has increasingly plagued consumers. Through this agreement, MSN will deliver to the 110 million MSN Hotmail users worldwide a more useful communications experience by significantly decreasing the number of unsolicited junk e-mail messages reaching their accounts. MSN and Brightmail expect the solution to be fully deployed on the MSN Hotmail network later this fall.
Under the agreement, Brightmail, the leader in anti-spam technology, will deploy its Brightmail Solution Suite to filter spam at the incoming SMTP gateway, before it’s delivered to the Hotmail user’s inbox. Leveraging the Probe Network, a collection of more than 200 million e-mail addresses designed to attract spam, Brightmail’s patented technology will automatically identify and eliminate spam before it reaches Hotmail users’ mailboxes. Brightmail’s proven solution provides superior protection against unsolicited junk e-mail by offering a dynamic technology that keeps pace with constantly evolving spam.
“Unsolicited junk e-mail is a global problem in the industry today that affects not just Hotmail users, but e-mail users everywhere,”
said Rick Holzli, general manager of MSN Hotmail.
“Joining forces with a leader such as Brightmail underscores MSN’s continued commitment to aggressively fight spam and provide our users with a world-class e-mail experience.”
“Brightmail is excited to work with MSN to help shield the millions of Hotmail users from the ever-growing flood of spam, which threatens the viability of e-mail as a universal communication tool,”
said Enrique Salem, president and CEO of Brightmail.
“This alliance is a milestone in our mission to eliminate spam through the development and deployment of our premium anti-spam technology.”
About Brightmail
Brightmail, the worldwide leader in anti-spam technology, provides an integrated suite of software and services that makes messaging secure and manageable. Brightmail protects the networks of service providers, enterprises and mobile network operators by filtering spam, viruses and undesired messages at the Internet gateway. Brightmail currently serves many of the largest service providers, including AT & T WorldNet, EarthLink, MSN and Verizon Online, as well as a number of Global 2000 corporations. Brightmail is backed by world-class investors and partners and is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. For more information, visit http://www.brightmail.com/ .
About MSN
MSN attracts more than 300 million unique users worldwide per month. Available in 34 markets and 18 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and digital marketing solutions to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/ . MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, MSN and Hotmail are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Brightmail and Probe Network are registered trademarks or trademarks of Brightmail Inc.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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